arkellvspressdram

Went to 2* Bon Bon outside Brussels last week, guest chef was Ana Ros who is in charge of Hisa Franko in Slovenia and has hit the Worlds 50 best and won best female chef a couple of years back. I'm always a bit suspicious about these one offs as it is an unfamiliar kitchen and brigade and presumably a load of stuff needs to be shipped in. Tasting menu (no choice on the night) was a combination of her dishes and Hardiquest's (chef at Bon Bon):

Smoked eel, sweet sour cherry shisho condiment, puffed rice
Mackerel with Kriek Cantillon
Apricot, fermented cottage cheese, lily flowers
Tete de veau en tortue
Tripe cooked in wild game jus, fermented cheese, wild mushrooms, nettles
Haddock and lobster, ginger mousseline
Bear, trout, honey, berries
Peach, sweetwoodruff milk, local saffron
Smoked white chocolate, red beet tartar, puffed rice

This was, until the end, a solid 1.5 to 2 star meal for me. Wine pairing was serviceable but didn't make any of us go "ooh what on earth is that" at any point. The tripe dish was by far the best tripe dish I've ever had, cut through with cheese it was delicious and was the dish of the night and I don't even really like tripe. The mackerel, cottage cheese and tete de veau were up there as well. Unfortunately it all fell apart at the end when they ran out of smoked white chocolate and served us a beetroot salad as our final dessert, which at that stage with no sweetness was a disaster. I wondered about this, surely it would have been better not to serve it as at all and either replace (maybe they couldn't because they didn't have anything else or because they were already cleaning down the kitchen) or make some other concession. We also missed out on mignardise which other tables were served and then had an extra dinner added to the bill which had to be sorted out.

It was a shame because it was good until then and the menu as a whole was well balanced and fun to eat...but ending like that really made the €400 bill stick in the throat. Noone there seemed to particularly care that we'd had a substandard experience relative to the other diners and I guess that's what really did the damage. A shame and more grist to the mill for my suspicions regarding these one off guest chef affairs.

DeathSlam

Visiting Japan in late May 2019.
I'll be spending a few days in Tokyo at the end but I have total freedom for the rest of the trip.
Was thinking of maybe heading up to Sapporo to see if I can catch the last of the blossom and maybe south to Osaka, Himeji, Hiroshima.
During my only other trip to Japan a few years ago I ate in M* most nights in Tokyo and Kyoto, so I'm interested to explore a few options outside.
I can make a special trip if necessary
There are a few options discussed above, but I thought a focused question might gather a more coherent set of recommendations from you knowledgeable crew.

PsiFighter37

Anyone have thoughts on Switzerland-based Michelin starred restaurants that are near Geneva, Montreux, Zermatt, or Lugano? Spending 2 weeks there next month and need to get my reservations lined up! The only one I have booked so far is Le Chat Botte (1 star) in Geneva.

Fliar

Ishikawa in Tokyo (3*) a couple of weeks ago. Very good, bordering on excellent.
Kikunoi honten (3*) in Kyoto - at 10K yen for lunch and 8 courses, this was incredible value. 3 out of 8 dishes were amazing, truly great, 3 were very good and 2 were so-so. The private room and service were excellent.

PsiFighter37

Joel Robuchon passed away at age 73. Left behind a huge legacy, as evidenced by all the stars piled up by his restaurants.

United747

in4tar

I second Kikunoi Honten - amazing meal and ambience...and a resident raccoon made an appearance (came out of bamboos to the window of our private dining room)...we will be in Kyoto in a year (maybe when PH opens there - I hear it'll be better than FS or RC) and definitely planning to revisit

Fliar

Or wait for the new Aman to open :-)

Fliar

Tokyo last week:
Eneko by 3* chef from Basque country Atxa Eneko (https://eneko.tokyo/en/?bcd=)
Great concept, great service (lots of Spaniards!), good food but not particularly memorable. I'd say very good but no more. Still would recommend as prices are very reasonable (including the excellent wine pairing).

Inua: just opened, Thomas Frebel (ex Noma) his new place was FANTASTIC. This deserves 3 stars. The closest comparison would be Blumenthal's original restaurant (never been to Noma!). Great service, great wine pairing, great, memorable food. Really a wonderful experience. Get in while you still can. https://eneko.tokyo/en/?bcd=

Butagumi tonkatsu: the orignal branch. Not a huge fan of tonkatsu but this was easily the best I've ever had (I chose the 4800 yen premium cut from Gifu). Really enjoyed it.

GadgetFreak

Around 1990, Patricia Wells, who was the restaurant critic for the Herald Tribune. She went in Robuchon's restaurant in Paris, which she said she thought was the best in the world, and with his help wrote a cookbook of some of his recipes. We attended a book signing she was carrying out in DC and bought an autographed copy of the book. One of the recipes in it was those mashed potatoes. I still remember making them. They have a huge amount of butter in them. But what I really remember was to make them smooth, pushing them through a fine sieve, think window screen, multiple times. With a wooded mallet. I thought my arms were going to fall off. Rest in peace and fair sailing to Joel Robuchon.

Bohemian1

For those following along at home, the correct link for Inua is here.

Thanks for the reviews!

United747

estnet

Had 2 return visits to Le Sputnik - Tokyo. Still totally amazing, but the new servers (2 men) were not quite as good as the old ones (2 women), apparently the women have moved on ;( What I really appreciate (and can't understand) is their NOT repeating any of the dishes I had 5 days ago (or last year) - with the exception of 2 repeats I requested.

Osaka - ajikitcho bunbuan 1* - had the lowest price dinner (80k). Have to say my least favorite choice. It was good and presentation nice, but really didn't feel that either the quality of sashimi or other dishes was significantly special, and the sashimi I bought to go (cheaply) at Tsukiji when I was in Tokyo was better. Of course the service and atmosphere was far superior at the restaurant, but still not a choice I'd make again.

La Cime - 2* AMAZING - lunch is a wonderful deal and food and presentation are fantastic. This, too, is a place where if I returned they said the menu would not repeat. Sadly, even tho I wanted to return there were no reservations available during my stay. It is also a Japanese/french style (and was recommended by the chef at Le Sputnik when I asked for Osaka recs)

Fujiya 1935 (now 2* was 3*) Wonderful - lunch also amazing and I didn't realize how lucky I was to get a reservation when I saw how small the restaurant is. Even with the small number of tables available they allowed reservation for 1 (both myself an another table) which many restaurants will not! In addition they were very respectful of my stated foods I don't eat and even substituted at the last minute - I don't particularly like cheese (sad I know) and there was a cheese and fruit course so I asked if they could do something else. They were very gracious and came up with something pretty amazing (an additional) dessert at the last minute. When I saw the cheese course, however, I was a little sad b/c it wasn't "cheese" it was a beautiful cheese "cake" - an elaborate preparation that far exceeded what I thought would be a slice of really good cheese - serves me right!
My neighbor asked about how often they change the menu and this restaurant changes every few months - so he was told if he came back in a week or so it would be the same menu. BTW they are famous for their corn "bubble" bread - which is truly amazing and I've searched trying to find a recipe or clue about how they produce this but I can't find anything - if anyone has a clue how to make it please let me know (DM would be good )

Some general comments - when something is in season (a type of fish or eel or.....) it tends to be featured at many restaurants at this level - but the preparations are different and it is usually only one or two course out of 9 or more. If you'd like to eat at great places but are watching your budget lunch is often a little more than half the price of dinner (tasting menu) but only has 3 or 4 fewer courses (and you'll be stuffed and maybe grateful that there aren't more courses - YMMV) and they are the same items you'd get at dinner, just fewer.

I guess it's a good thing I don't live in Japan b/c I'm afraid I'd weigh a ton with all the excellent restaurants (and not only at the Michelin level) VBG

Fliar

Great tips for Tokyo, thanks for that. Le Sputnik was a favourite of mine - went twice. I liked the ladies, pity they've moved on!

offerendum

Thanks for this. Thought about all 4 during my last visit but didnīt visit one of them. 3 of them sound more or less disappointing.